AKA, the American Writers & Artists Institute…
hailing from 2002… with all the accoutrements of classic direct mail:
– Teaser copy laden envelope
– 12-page sales letter
– 4-page testimonials sheet
– Lift letter
– Old school reply card [Read more…]
Just look at the composite words of this headline:
You… BIG MONEY… home… TV. [Read more…]
This is one of those promos that could be a blockbuster or an also-ran.
Conventional wisdom says you’re NOT supposed to use play-on-words or cliches in headlines. [Read more…]
It’s one of the biggest bookalog hits of the 21st Century.
It nails all the appeals… and pushes all the hot buttons of a hungry market.
This bookalog mailed for FOUR solid years and launched more copywriters into the business than you can shake a stamp at.
Why was it such a SMASH?
It may look like your average home study course but make no mistake — this direct mail package is one potent evergreen business opportunity pitch. [Read more…]
Here’s the latest from the great Gary Bencivenga.
This promo is as much about business building… when you already have a successful gourmet food brand AND subscription business… as it is about copy. [Read more…]
Obviously, this trading alerts promo is from yesteryear.
After all, it specifies on the order page: “I understand I’ll start receiving e-mail and fax bulletins immediately…”
But the teaser copy on the envelope echoes through time… [Read more…]
You can’t come up with a stronger claim than CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
Now granted, we as marketers and copywriters inhabit a kind of boxing ring, often laden with hyperbole.
Only experience, and a lot of testing, can help you discern when’s the right time to throw a soft jab and when to throw the haymaker. [Read more…]
I realize it’s a bit of an exaggeration to say Dr. Al Sears is the “last man standing” in print newspaper advertising in the States in 2023.
But not buy much when you consider there were ten fold the number of newspaper supplement ads a decade ago in 2013.
The readership is just no longer there and has been bleeding out for years. [Read more…]
The one time Kent State communications professor Dr. Ernest Weckesser was a copywriting natural from the get-go.
This particular ad had insertions in the hundreds throughout the early 1980s.
There’s something really captivating about this lead in a borderline ominous way. [Read more…]
Here’s one of those ubiquitous promos for an options trading course.
This magalog has the feel of the long running winner, “The World’s Most Powerful Money Manual” but it’s fairly prosaic.
“This small booklet contains the entire Millionaire’s Secret, uncensored and complete. It’s the same secret used by the wealthiest individuals and corporations to multiply money — quickly, discreetly, and VERY successfully! [Read more…]
Reverend Ike was an American evangelist-preacher based in New York City and known for the expression: “You can’t lose with the stuff I use!”
He was also a HEAVY mail order marketer whose packages were known for excessive personalization and the inclusion of a wide range of grabbers, like the Angels card in this piece which was placed in the reply envelope. [Read more…]
If compound interest is the “eighth wonder of the world”…
And the quote is variously attributed to a plethora of heavyweights:
– Ben Franklin
– Baron de Rothschild
– Albert Einstein
– Bernard Baruch
…Then the ninth wonder of the world is… [Read more…]
Here’s the latest 28-page package from Martin Weiss and the fine folks at Safe Money Report. [Read more…]
Forget about the legion of space ads…
Gene Schwartz was so prolific he had even more corporate registrations than some copywriters have ads…
More companies than aging Hollywood stars have facelifts. [Read more…]
There’s a reason KLM, the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands, stuck with David Ogilvy and his merry band of ad wizards.
Imagine an American traveler contemplating a trip to Europe in the 1970s, two decades before the Web.
There were travel books… and there were full page lead generation marvels like this. [Read more…]
There’s a surprising thing about the FREE STUFF and “save money” category in direct response.
It’s not just pensioners or those on fixed income that relish secret ways of saving money or getting free stuff. [Read more…]
This marketer excels at the risk free trial offer in health & beauty, here’s their latest.
Here’s their winning weight loss offer arriving in a mailbox near you in early 2023.
“Dear Lawrence,
Do you try to cut down on carbs, but always get tripped up by the hidden carbs in so called “healthy” foods like fruits, sauces, and dressings? No wonder it’s so tough to lose weight or stick to a diet plan. [Read more…]
The fabulous LIVE MAINE LOBSTERS print ad got me hungry for some food copy.
What could be better than a Hancock Gourmet Lobster catalog?
Gourmet food promos almost always have great photography (similarly with travel and real estate advertising) but FOOD COPY is often wanting.
Not here. [Read more…]
Here’s a typical promo for the trading market with an old-school product as the starting point: a $50 book.
“With the Event-Trading System you can potentially make huge profits in a single day without buying a single share of stock. Event-Trading Phenomenon Delivers Amazing Profits! 6000 Points Profit Over 51/2 Years And near 100% Wins!! [Read more…]
Marketers everywhere should learn everything they can about EVERGREEN ideas and products.
Because not everyone relishes constantly coming up with new products, marketing and ad copy.
These magnificent ads from the 1980s weren’t so unique for the time or even today. [Read more…]
Here’s the latest incarnation of direct mail from the SUPER supplement that dominates direct mail from coast to coast.
And the great thing about this BARNSTORMING package is it’s a totally NEW treatment that uses the tested and proven elements of the best of the best from previous packages, including: proof elements, killer claims, unique selling advantages and a RED HOT offer. [Read more…]
Here’s a collaborative project (of sorts) from two of my heroes: Gary Bencivenga and Marty Edelston. [Read more…]
Upton Sinclair: wrote in I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” [Read more…]
– Farmers’ Almanac
– The Guinness Book of Records
– Bottom Line Yearbook
Great publications have widely anticipated annual editions. [Read more…]
Read this ad 50 years after it first ran, …
And be amazed at the CRACKING copy… the POPPING persuasion… the pièce de résistance of research.
Yes, this is one of those legendary “Ogilvy Orchestrations” that helped propel Merrill Lynch into the pole position of investment advisors for decades. [Read more…]